Iron safe



, OBADIH MARLAND, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IRON SAFE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 10,661, dated March 21, 1854.-`

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, OBADIAH MARLAND, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Fireproof Safes; and I do hereby decl-are that the following is a full, clear, and eXact description of the construction and ope-ration of the same, reference being had to th-e annexed drawings, and the letters of reference thereon marked, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is the door plate; Fig. 2, the lining; Fig. 3, the backboard.; Fig. 4, the inner frame; Fig. 5, a section of al fragment of a finished door; and Fig. 6 a finished safe.

The drawings are all in perspective, and the same letters refer to the same parts in all the drawings. 'l

The object and advantage of my invention is to make the interior of fireproof safesv more completely secure against the action of fire than they have ever before been made.

In the construction ofthe doors and the parts surrounding the doorways of all safes i but mine, a considerable quantity of met-al is used where its presence is very objectionable,

and operates .injuriously The objectionable metal here alluded to is that portion which surrounds the doorway and occupies the space between the wooden case and batten bar, and which safe-makers call the frame around the door, but to which I give the name of inner frame; also all the metal which covers five sides" of the filling, or lining, attached to thedoor, and consist-ing (generally) of two pieces of iron, one of which is called the door frame77 and the other the inner platealso all the metal bolts which pass from the outside of the door plate to the outer surface of the inner plate forming a direct and active communication for transferring the heat on the outside to the interior of the safe. All these pieces of metal conduct in, and throw off into the interior of the safe, a greater or less amount of caloric accordingto the heat on the outside-not unfrequently causing the destruction of books and papersy in the wooden case. Experience has abundantly shown'that the combustion of the contents of a safe always commences on the side fronting the door; and this combustion is chiefly caused at this point, by the greater quantity of metal employed in the construction of these parts of the safe,` and the proximity of the metal so employed to the wood work and contents of the case. It is plain to be seen that the removal of all the pieces off'inetal just enumerated, and which are good conductors of heat, and substituting in their places soap-stone. which is a poor-conthe doorexcepting only so much of its p ro- `Jectmg surface as may be covered by the ductor `of heat, would materially improve lock dog,".and hinges on the doorY plate. *i

Neither do I haveany metal bolts passing through the door plate and'lining and communicating with the exterior and interior of thetsafe. I make the lining ont-he door,r and the inner fra-ine, outl of soap-stone, clay, sandstone, lire-brick, plaster of Paris, marble, or any other suitable material. At present I ,prefersoap-stone, The liningy on the door, and the inner frame may each be made in one or many pieces. kOn one side of the linlng on the door I fasten a strong board Vin the position of the inner plate7 on an.

ordinary safe. The object of this board, which I call a back board, is to keep the lining in .its place in case it should ,get broken by a fall in a burning building. This board is made to fit closely to the wood of the case, when the door is locked, and thus performs another useful purpose in preventing the circulation of heated air between the outside and inside ofthe safeand also to help sustain the Weight of any blow or pressure on the door.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

With the exception of the work on t-h door and the inner frame, my safe is made in the customary way.

The door plate, Figs. 1, 5, and 6, letters'a, is perforated with as manyholes as it is intended to have bolts to secure the lining to it. The lock, dog, and hinges, having been fastened to it, as usual, and the bolts inserted in the holes made to receive them,

the doorplate is then laid upon a` level above the bolts.

3, 5, and 6, letters z', is noW put onto thek is then laid upon the door plate-the Shanks of the bolts entering as many corresponding holes, shown in Fig. 2, in the lining,v

previously drilled for their reception. The Shanks of the bolts extend lonly from one third to one half the Way through the liningsee Fig. 5, letter C. The first part of the holes in the lining, Fig. 5, letter d, is made only large enough to admit the Shanks of the boltS,-the other part of the distance the holes, see Fig. 5, letter e, are large enough to admit the Washers and nuts. The Washers are next put on, and the nuts, Fig. 5, letter f, screwed home to the Shoulder in the lining. The open space above the `ends of the bolts, Fig. 5, letter g, is filled with Roman cement, plaster of Paris, or other suitable material, flush With the Surface o-f the lining. The wooden pins, Fig. 2, letters z, intended to hold the back board in its place, are noW placed in the holes, about half an inch deep, made for them in the lining, and are cemented in their places With the same material used to fill the space The back boards, Figs.

lining-the projecting ends of the Wooden pins, Fig. 2, letters h, entering as many corresponding holes, seen in Fig. 3, in the back board, Which is finally securedto them by driving Wedges into their centers. The door is now hung, as usual, on the front hoop, Fig. 6, letters le, of the safe. The inner frame, Figs. 4, and 6, letters m, is-

i now put in its place around the lining on the door-the `Wooden case` is placed in formits oflice Well,-but at attaching it to the lining.

desire to secure by Letters Patent is- ,ters p.

The back board may be hung, on hinges, to the Wood Work of the case and `perpresent, I prefer Having thus fully described my invention, I Would state that, I do not claim the lining of safes with vsoap stone, independent of the means of attaching it to the outer plate or Shell, and of protecting it from breaking, as this has been done before; but

What I do claim as of my invention, and i The combination of a lining of soap stone, or other suitable material, with the internal protecting plate on the inner surface of the door, when the said lining is constructed in the manner described, so as to dispense with any metallic connection between the outer metallic casing, and the internal surface `of the door, whereby I `am enabled to avoid Vthe heat .of conduction passing from the outer tothe inner surface of the safeuas set .forth. y lOBADIAH MARLAND, y

Witnesses: i

J. C. CROSMAN, JOSEPH DUNIKLER. 

